Palestinian olive trees damaged
2009-11-25 20:16
Jerusalem - Israel has failed to act against Jewish settlers who vandalise Palestinian olive crops in the West Bank, Israeli rights group Yesh Din charged on Wednesday.
Over the past four years, Israeli police investigated 69 incidents in which settlers were accused of destroying Palestinian crops, but none resulted in an indictment, according to information released by Yesh Din.
Most of the damage was done to olive trees, but other types of fruit trees, such as lemon and almond trees, were also harmed, the group said.
"When investigating vandalism of trees, the SJ (Samaria and Judea) Police failure rate is 100%," said Yesh Din in a statement. The group said 27 of the incidents were reported this year.
The Israeli military had earlier reported a relatively "quiet olive-picking season" in September and October, when Israeli security forces deployed in large numbers near West Bank groves to protect Palestinian farmers from radical Jewish settlers, who often use the harvest season to harass and attack Palestinians.
Yesh Din nonetheless said it received dozens of reports during that period from Palestinians who complained that hundreds of trees were damaged.
"The law-enforcement authorities are not responding to the ongoing harm done to the livelihood of Palestinian families," Lior Yavne, Yesh Din's research director said.
Of the 69 cases investigated since 2005, 49 were closed, 14 are still open and the remaining handful are being examined by prosecutors, but no indictments had been filed, it said.
Israel Police Spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said he was checking the report.
- SAPA